Attachment for hay stackers



c. E. HTLTON. ATTACHMENT FOR HAY STACKERS. APPLICATION FI-LED FEB. 23I192|.

Patented June 20, 1922.v

2 SHEETSH'EET'- 1.

i T 'HTM @5 @il j @My C. E. HILTON. ATTACHMENT Fa HAY STACK-Ens.APPLICATION. FILED FEB. 23, I92I.

1,420,548. I Patented June 20, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.'

wir, I I

u rr r CALV'IN E. HILTON, OF WITTEN, SOUTH DAKOTA.

ATTACHMENT non. HAY sTAcKERs.;

specification 'of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 2,3, 1921. Serial No. 447,258.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.' y y Be it .known that I, CALVIN E. HILTON,a citizen of the United States, residing at Witten, in the county ofTripp `and State of lSouth Dakota, have invented certain new and usefulVImprovements in Attach-A Vments for Hay Stackers, of which the followingis a specification.

Myinvention relates to attachments for hay stackers. v

Y My object is to provide simple and inexpensive means, which operateiirst,to en- `vgage the load of hay (brought up by the hay sweep anddeposited on the platform teeth ofthe pitcher fork), and hold all ofsaid hay on saidplatform teeth,A so that when the team is backed away,neither the natural Vexpansion of the hay nor the friction of the lsweeprake teeth as they are withdrawn from under Vthe hay, will occasion anyof the hay to slipV over the ends of said teeth onto the ground, whereit Vwill have to be pitched backonto the pitcher platform by hand beforethe load of hay v is lifted to the stack. Secondly, to releasably holdthe loadVV of hay on the pitcher fork in such a way that it willbedeposited at the'desired pointon the stack, and will not be carriedover the top of the stack by momentum from fast driving, nor blown overby high Winds.

A specific object 1s to provide means for engaging theload of hay (justbrought up by the sweep rake and deposited on the pitcher platform)while'said hay is still compressed between the pitcher head lteeth andthe hay guard rails of the sweep, and

' partially binding said hay tothe pitcher fork by means adapted tofollow the vhay to a predetermined distance vfrom the stack when it isdumped from the pitcher head, and to then become disengaged from it,said means comprising a iexible member secured the needle, with a ringyadapted to moveV back and forth insaid elongated eye, and a outer teethofv the flexible Vconnection 'secured at one end to said ring and at itsother end to one ofthe erably near the p'itcher'heady; Y

pitcher platform pref- Patented Jane 2o, 1922.

The invention consists infcertain-`novel i.

features-of 'constructionand arrangement of parts as ywillibehereinafter Vdescribed andv claimed, reference being hadto'th'eaccompanylng 'drawings in which Y Fig. l'shows in side elevation avstacker with a loadv of hay just delivered upon the l pitcherplatformthereof by va hay sweep,

and' secured on -v said platform by my improvement. Fig.2 showsfmyimproved hay,V needle 1n side elevation.` FigL "3 is a per-. V

spectve view thereof. Figs. fand 5 vare viewslargely'diagrammaticwshowing the movements vofthe hay yafter it has'beendumped from the pitcher fork;.and, Fig 6 v illustrates the positionassumedby-my im-1.

provementasthe pitcher `'fork returns tothe on the stack. j v

The numeral lindicate's the stacker which is' provided with a ,pitcherfork of'COm-f mon construction having a series of' teeth 2 formingtheplatformthereof and `an.-

vground after having-delivered a load of hay Y other series 3 formingthe headv thereof; Y

vwhile the numeral 4 indicates allay sweepv lfatform teeth V'5, and a jhaving the p guardrail 6.

A flexible member 7 is secured aton'e of itsendsto either oneofthe'outer teeth'of y the pitcher platform,'preferably backnear vthepitcher head-as at 7a,and at its other end is secured to the haylneedle8; said neel Vdie having along slot or eye 9 into which isreceived a ring lO'adapted to move freely backfand forth therein', andto which ring the exible member7 is secured.

Theportio'nl'flr of the needle between the l forward end of theeye andthe point or the needle is curved downwardly andupwardly for a reasonthat' will presently appear, and the pointed end 9b of this curvedportion extends upwardly a little above the plane 'of the top .of theneedle, as clearly indicatedinFig. 2. The needle is preferably providedwith a head 12 which Vforms a stop for it when'it has been thrustrintothe hayy its full length.Y Y f Y Certain vof the teeth of, thepitcherplatform are provided near their' forward ends with brackets llvrigidlyv secured thereto;

one purpose of these brackets being to pre- Y vent the hay from slippingoff over the ends of the platform teeth 2 when the hay sweep teeth 5 arewithdrawn from under the load of hay on the pitcher platform.

I usually employ four of these brackets placing them on the second andthird teeth from each outside tooth of the pitcher fork, as indicated inF ig. 5; but the number of brackets may be varied, of course, if thenature of the hay to be handled requires it.

The operation of my improvement is as follows The load of Vhay isbrought up on the sweep 4 in the ordinary way and deposited on thepitcher platform, as illustrated in Fig.' l. When the axle` la of thesweep strikes the brackets 1l and begins to slide up thereon, theincreased resistance offered Aby the incline ofthe bracket to theforward movement of the sweep will cause the horses 'to Vstop (just atthe right place), much t-he vsame as if they had run against a solidobstruction. The stopping of the horses at this. point also prevents thehay sweep teeth from running into the fork head and getting broken, asthey often do with the ordinary arrangement. The elevation of the axleof the sweep, as it slides up the brackets ll causes the forward ends ofthe sweep 4'teeth 5 to point downwardly into engagement with-the,-ground, which adds to the resistance offered by the brackets toarrest the 'forward movement of the sweep at the proper place, while atthe same timel turning the points of the sweep teeth down, so that evenif a fractious team should thrust the sweep Ytoo far inwardly, thepoints of the teeth would go under the fork head and not into it to bebroken.

These brackets also serve the splendid purpose of preventing any of thehay from slipping off over the ends of the `teeth from the expansionofthe hay or` the friction of Vthe sweep teeth 5 as they are withdrawnfrom under the hay.

While the load .of hay is still pressed between the hay gua-rd rail 6 ofthe sweep and the fork head 3, as illustrated in Fig. l, the rope 7 ofmy improvement is drawn preferably diagonally across `the bunch of hay,and the needle is held in a vertical position wit-h its curved endfacing toward the rope; the curved portion of the needle is then thrustdown vertically into the hay up tothe eye with the ring l0 at the lowerend of said eye; the upper end of the needle is then forced bac-kwardlyand thrust horizontally int-o the hay preferably underneath the ropetoward the end 7a thereof. As the needle is thrust into the hay, thering l0 slips backwardly in the slot or eye 9, thus leaving the'ropealways as tight as it was in the beginning of the operation. The hay isthen ready to be elevated to the stack. When the hay is rst dumped fromthe pitcher fork it assumes somewhat t-he posihigh winds coming fromtherear, the rope will not permit it to go on out, as it otherwise woulddo, and over the top ofthe stack,

but will forcibly resist too great an outward movement, thus proving agreat convenience in topping out stacks, when fast drivingor high windsare almost sure to carry the hay over the top: and since the needle ispreferably inserted at the forward side of the bunch of hay, that sidewhich was tossed farthest out at the beginning-will be drawn inwardly totheposition illustrated at o, at which point t-he continued pull of therope on the needle, (occasioned by the descending movement. of the hay),will cause the bunch of hay when in the position b to make a furthersomewhat semicircular movement bringing the same to the positionindicated at c, at which point the pull on the needle will now be on theouter end thereof, so that the needle will now be withdrawn from thehay, the curved portion of the needle still serving as it is withdrawnto Ygive a final pull upon the bunch of hay to overv' come any remainingtendency it may have to go too far forward, thus causing the hay to dropat the desired point on the-stack.

The needle, of course, would work well if it were straight, and also ifit were thrust into the hay in different directions fromY pitcher andcause it all to go up onto the stack, but the curved end of the needlemakes it easy, after first thrusting the needle down vertically te thedesired depth inthe hay, to then bring it to an approximately horizontalposition.

lVhile Fig. 4- of the drawings as just described, shows in a'diagrammatic way how the evil effects of fast driving and high windsfrom the rear are overcome, F ig. 5 similarly illustrates how the evileffects of high side winds may be overcome by attach# ing the rope 7 towhichever side of the forkhead happens to be next the wind. In theillustration the windis supposed to be blowing from the right asindicated by the arrow w. It will be seen from this ligure that as thebunch of hay successively reaches the positions a, Z), and c, as alreadydescribed in connection with Fig. 4, t-he rope and needle act insubstantially the same wayto resist side winds as they do to resist windfrom the rear. lf the wind is coming in the opposite direction from thatindicated by (that is, fromthe left instead he arrow fw of from theright), then the rope Tis simply fastened to vthe -left side of thenfork head instead of to the rightas. shown'. 4

When the hay fork 1s"ret,urn1 ground for another load of hay, the ropeand needle simply hang down at the side of the sweep out of the way andreach the ground first.

. Thus it will be seen that I have'providedv a most practical,economical, and serviceabledevice which isV so constructed that itfollows the hay from the forkv down toward the stack and controls it in'its descent, in spite offast driving and adverse winds, only entirelyreleasing it when it is sufficiently near the stack to fall at Vthedesired pointv thereon. Y

When the vneedle is thrust into the hay horizontally under the rope thecurved portion 9a carries the point of the needleup in which positionthe needle securely holds the rope tight across the top of the bunch ofhay, in such a waythat the pull of the rope on the ring 10 has little orno tendency torelease the needlefrom thehay as the same is elevated tothe stack;

The device while doing its ywork in a most satisfactory manner 'savesthelabor of one man, and permits stacking to be done in a high wind whenit would otherwise beim! possible to do stacking at all.

It is apparent from the construction of my device that it willworkwellwith any of' a needle having a Vportion at one end curved downwardlybelow the plane of the shank of the needle and then upwardly,terminating in a point, said point being above the plane of the shankofthe needle;and an elongated slot extending rearwardly from,

said curved portion to the other'end of the needle.

3. The combination with a hay pitcher,

Vof a needle having at one end a Vportion curved downwardly below theplane of the shank of the needle and then upwardly and tapered to apoint with the point projecting above the plane of the shank of theneedle;l

and ank elongated eyein the shankV of the needle. Y 1

e 4. In a device of the character described, a needle having a taperedportion at one end and an elongatedyslot extending rearwardly therefrom;and a'securin'g member mounted in said slotto move back and forththerein. 5. In a device of the character described, a needle having acomparatively short portion at one end curved downwardly and then 'Yupwardly, and an elongated eye extending rearwardly from said curvedportion to the other end of the needle in a plane at right angles Ytothe plane of the curved portion of* the needle; and a securing membermounted on said slotto play backand forth therein. 6, The combinationwith a hay vpitcher of a needle having a tapered-portion at'one end anda head at the other end, said head lying in a plane at right angles tothelongitudinal extent of the needle; and an elongated slot extendingthrough the needle. between said portions. t

7 An attachment for stacker forks, comprising a needle tapered atone'end and having an elongated eye extending rearwardly from saidtapered portion to the other end.

of theneedle; a securing member mounted to move back and forth in saidslot; and a flexible member yattached at oneend to said securing member,and adapted to be o at-V to the hay fork. 8. An attachment kfor'thepitcher fork'of.V f.

tachedrat its other end a stacker, comprisinga needle having a Vta-f"pered portion adapted to penetrate the hay;l t .i i a Securing membermovable longitudinally y back and forth on the other portionlof theVVneedle, said latter portion of the needle beingy provided with means forlimiting the longitudinal movement of the securingmem-V ber thereupon;and a flexible member con-'I Y nected at one end to said securing memberand designed to be connected at its otherV end to the stacker. fork.

9. In a device of thecharacter described, a flexible member forattachment at one end to the pitcher fork; allay-engaging member' having;a portion at one endv adapted to' penetrate the hay, V andY havinganother portion adapted for slidable engagement with Y the other end ofthe flexibleV memberv to' permit the flexible `membervto move back andforth'thereupon, said latterV portion of the needle having meansforf'limiting'the back and forth movement'ofthe flexible memberAthereupon.` Y Y. y

10. The'combination with a pitcher fork of'means for holding haythereon, comprising a flexible connection securedat one end to the forkand adapted to be passed over' the bunch of hay to hold the sametogether on the fork, said flexible member being provided atV its otherend with means for de-Q tachable engagement with thehay, whereby toprovide an anchor inthe hay for securing the one end of the flexibleconnection thereto.

11.k The combination witha pitcher fork,

of mea-ns* for'holdng hay thereon, Comprising bracketsl mounted towardthe forward ends of the platform teeth to prevent the hay from slipping'over thev ends'o said teeth; a. lflexible connection secured at one endtothe forli and adapted 'to be passed over the bunch of hay to hold thesame together onv the fork; and a hay needle Secured Y to the otherend'oll the flexible connection and adapted to bepassed into the hay to10 further-bind the same together and to form an anchor in the hay forthe end of said flexble member. f

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

CALVIN E. HILTON.

